Unlike Balfe's parlor song setting of the same text, which was designed for home performance and uses harmonic changes to critique the speaker's insanity, Somervell's art song setting was designed for public performance in a concert hall and presents a more sympathetic portrait of the speaker. Although the song has harmonic irregularities, they are of short duration and therefore appear hidden in the song even more than in Balfe's setting. This results in a musical depiction of the speaker from within the prison of his own mind rather than a critique of him from an external perspective.

Although Somervell's setting marks the end of this stage of development for Songs of the Victorians the project will not lie dormant. I plan to add new material over the next few years, and I am also seriously contemplating accepting submissions from other scholars (I have already had some volunteers) starting in the fall of 2014.

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About Me

I'm a PhD candidate in the English Department at the University of Virginia, and I specialize in Romantic and Victorian poetry, digital humanities, sound studies, and gender studies. My dissertation examines the gendered intermediations of Victorian poetry and music. Follow me on twitter: @annieswafford